Poland Council OKs new garden sign

May 30, 2013

Poland Village Council approved a special sign for the Centennial Gardens behind Village Hall at the May 21 meeting. Plans were presented by Ginni Meloy from the Poland Village Gardeners Club.

"People come to the village just to see the gardens and often they can't find it," Meloy said. "We've already submitted a site plan and drawings and if council approves, it could be installed before Celebrate Poland."

The sign would fit the look of Village Hall and would be located in the corner of the Village property at South Main and Cortland streets. Council not only approved the sign, but because the Poland Village Gardeners take care of the Centennial Garden and are an all-volunteer group, they waived the sign fee.

Regarding a different sign, Council held the third reading of the leash ordinance establishing a leash law for the entire Poland Municipal Forest. Mayor Tim Sicafuse said he opposed the ordinance simply from an enforcement perspective.

Police Chief Russ Beatty told council that he doesn't get that many calls in a year, but did say if the entire forest were under a leash requirement, it would be easier to enforce.

Beatty also mentioned that appropriate signage would need to be in place to let people know of the change in the leash laws.

In other business:

Council heard from the public regarding a request to regulate surveillance cameras. The concern was over cameras that can intrude into a neighbor's backyard and the possibility of photos being taken and posted on YouTube that would constitute an invasion of privacy.

Council approved an engineering contract with MS Consultants.

Council approved an honorary resolution for Eagle Scout Charles May.

A position for deputy zoning administrator was approved and was declared an emergency.

Approval was given to increase the employee theft coverage on the policy with Wichert Insurance to $500,000. It was noted that a recent employee theft in Stark County where an employee stole $2 million had the county treasurer being held responsible for the full amount. The village presently had only $25,000 coverage. The increased to $500,000 would cost slightly more than $800 a year.